The Coast Guard Artic Service Medal was established in 1976 by Admiral Owen W. Siler, USCG and is awarded to any member of the U.S. Coast Guard who performs twenty one days of cumulative duty in the polar waters of the Arctic Circle.
The decoration is also authorized for personnel who serve on remote radio stations in certain areas of Alaska, Greenland, and Norway. For flight personnel, the decoration is authorized for twenty one flight days above the Arctic Circle.
The Coast Guard Arctic Service Medal may also be awarded, on a case by case basis, to non_Coast Guard personnel who perform significant duties in support of Coast Guard missions within the Arctic region.
The decoration is retroactive to 1946. The medal is also provided as a one time issuance only, and there are no devices authorized for additional periods of Arctic service beyond the minimum twenty one days.
The polar bear, whose sole habitat is the Arctic region, alludes to the polar region and to the CoastGuard Cutter Bear.
In the center of a bronze medallion one and a quarter inches in diameter, the Seal of the United States CoastGuard, under whose authority the medal is awarded is displayed.
The ribbon is the reverse of the Antarctic serviceMedal, thus indicating service at its opposite (North) pole.
The boundary is generally considered to be north of the Arctic Circle (66° 33’N), which is the limit of the midnight sun and the polar night.
The Arctic region is one of the last and most extensive continuous wilderness areas in the world and its significance in preserving biodiversity and genotypes is considerable.
The Arctic is particularly susceptible to the abrasion of groundcover and to the disturbance of the rare reproduction places of the animals that are characteristic to the region.
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